6 UNESCO

Eastern Week, from the 25th of March 2018

If your are coming from Madrid, mark in your calendar 24 march to 2 april 2018

1’ Day - Madrid* - Barcelona

Enough of the books, overlook any stress, and let’s get going towards Barcelona, the first step of ourEuropean summer adventure. We’ll leave Madrid on the 8th of June at 00.30 and arrive in Barcelona in the morning. Recharge your batteries, because a great Unitrips journey is waiting for you. Are you ready?

*Bus from Madrid to Barcelona and accommodation in Barcelona, optional

Did you know that…

– The Construction of Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia is endless. The builder stated that “God had all the time on the planet to see it completed”, which means his work will be ongoing for a lifetime and will not have an end date

-Barcelona has a city under its feet; the sewage framework, whose peculiar structure has brought about shootings of movies like Rec or The Machinist

– There are routes in the city that are best explained by the writer Carlos Ruiz Zafon

2’ Day - Barcelona - Blue Coast

We leave Barcelona, as well as as Catalonia, saying goodbye to the Costa Brava. Crossing borders into the Pyrenees, the Languedoc and Rousellón Carcassonne in France, and moving towards a city of medievale fairytale: Carcassonne, a world heritage site by UNESCO. This city will bring you back in time and make you feel like you are in another era. It is known to be a fortified city with two columns of walls, a castle and some other bastion. In the past, it had extraordinary significance because of its strategic location, it was on the route connecting the Mediterranean with the Atlantic. The city is partitioned into two sections, delimited by the Aude River: on the right is the Cité also known as fortress and to your left is La Bastide Saint-Louis.

Leaving Carcassonne and heading towards Avignon.

Did you know that…

– Le Citéis the biggest defense city still existing in Europe and was viewed as an inconceivable force to break into, with a twofold arrangement of walls and a spectacular castle

– Carcassonne is not a detached fortress like numerous medieval castles, but rather a genuine braced city, a sentinel at the edge of the bank of the River Aude. For a minute, the towering walls and towers can make you think about the life they lived in the past

– In the Middle Ages, the religion practiced here was the Cathars. It comprised of a conviction of a divine force of good, the creator of the spiritual domain; and the presence of evil, maker of the unmistakable universe of man. If things had proceeded the way they were, today we would probably be discussing a nation separated in the French south. However, neither the King of France nor the Pope permitted this to happen

– Nimes hosts a grand Colosseum. It doesn’t look at all similar to the Colosseum in Rome and apart from its height, they really are not alike. Interestingly, both were built in the same period: 70 AD

3’ Day - Blue Cost - Monaco - Sanremo

We will be moving with the Unitripers by Provence, a trademark region in France, rich in valuable towns where time ceased long back, and landscapes covered with lavander.

From there, we will get back to the coast, passing Saint Tropez and Cannes where all the frech cinema celebrities used to spend their holidays, to arrive to Monaco. Going through a masterpiece of street design of the 60s, we will make a visit to our companions, the Grimaldi family, in their little city-state: the territory of Monaco, or Monte Carlo if you prefer. The little beach front state holds the record population density on the planet, and seeing that their country is built on a hill will overwhelm you. We will visit the incredible Formula 1 circuit, going around the bends at full speed (beyond what many would consider possible with a bus) and thus reaching France and its legendary “cote bleu”.

We will proceed via this coastal route to Italy, spending the night in the mountainous district of Liguria amongst bridges and passages.

We will sleep in Liguria, in Sanremo, a coastal village famous for its music festival and its flowers.

Did you know that…

–Monaco is the second smallest country in the world, with an area of just 2 square kilometers bigger than the Vatican

– The Lavender is the blue flower of Provence. Many of its broad fields are filled with this aromatic plant and its lilac is the reason the coast is called “blue coast

4’ Day - Sanremo - 5 Terre - Pisa - Florence

Ready for an intense day? Leaving from Sanremo and driving the road along the Thyrennean sea, we will arrive to visit the natural park “5 Terre”, 5 villages with typicaly mediterranean architecture, hanging from the cliffs.

From here it’s not far to enter Tuscany, again, and reach the small university city Pisa. Here we will stroll through the old medieval ocean power to admire the most well-known tower on the planet, whose inclination amazes everybody from even 1000 years ago: The Tower of Pisa.

The soft nature with its green rolling hills, lined with cypresses and villas, is mixed with centuries of hisotry and relics of the medieval ages. After this charming journey we will arrive in Florence and enjoy the birthplace of the Renaissance.

Thanks to the Medici family, from the 18th century, Florence became a world reference for art: here, the streets were filled with writers, poets, painters, sculptors, and geniuses of the calibur or Rafaello, Michaelangelo, Leonardo, Dontello, Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Botticelli, Machiavelli, Galileo… to name but a few!

5’ Day - Florence

“Buongiorno Principessa” said Benigni, an actor from the city of Florence, in the film “Life is Beautiful”.

Today you can visit numerous fine arts by these creators in the historical center of the Uffizi, or if walking round an exhibition hall is not for you, you could walk up the hill where you can simply see the fanciful arch of Brunelleschi which dominates the city.

Tuscan cuisine has many typical dishes, so don’t forget to try the typical Florentine steak! Or lampredotto… to always be accompanied by a Chianti wine.

Are you tired?? Better not be! Florence is a city full of life, and by night you can enjoy its university parties in the Santa Croce area.

Did you know that…

-Florence was the capital of Italy between 1865 and 1871

– The Ponte Vecchio bridge was the main monument in the city that survived the Nazi shelling in World War II, like Big Ben in London’s case

– The Fontana del Porcellino Florence is well known for an old tradition: if you throw a coin into the mouth of the boar statue and the coin lands in the splashing water, you will be brought good fortune

Want to know more?

6’ Day - Florence - Rome

We will get on the UniBus and as all the roads lead to Rome, we will follow them until arriving to this “Eternal City”.

We will arrive to Rome late, as as Rome wasn’t buit in a day, we will neither be able to see it in a day. So save your energu, because tomorrow a long days is waiting for us.

Did you know that…

– In the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome there are stars on the marble floor, right amidst a passageway that goes through the focal nave. They represent the length between different Catholic places of worship on the planet

– In Santa Maria in Cosmedin you can find the world’s most famous manhole cover: the Boca Della Verita. According to legend, he who puts his hand in his mouth and tells a lie will get a bite

– Rome has a very romantic park: the Villa Borghese, which, when viewed from the sky, is seen in the shape of the heart

7’ Day - Rome

Buongiorno Roma!

Rome is known as the“Eternal City” as here, time appears to have ceased hundreds of years back. As a result of the large number of remaining landmarks, strolling through the lanes turns into a trip back so the capital’s golden age.

The capital of Italy and previous “caput mundi” awaits us with its vast history. There are a lot of reasons to visit Rome, an exciting city you will want to come back to. We start with the symbol of the city, the most visited landmark in Italy: the Colosseum,which, despite being half torn down, still oozes wonder. Yet, we don’t stop here, as we proceed to the great Roman Forum, the Campidoglio and wrap it up visiting the Mouth of Truth. Are you prepared for the peak of the day as we visit theCastel Sant’Angelo?

Now to the Pantheon, where we will take a risk by tossing a coin in theTrevi Fountain, San Giovanni in Laterano.

We will also reserve time to visit the Coliseum, Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums.

8’ Day - Rome - Civitavecchia

We don’ have much of this mediterranean adventure left, so which is the best way of saying goodbye to the sea full of hisory?

Sailing it! That’s it!

We’ll spend the night on an elegant boat with all the necessary facilities to make the journey enjoyable: a nightclub, games room, restaurants, 24h cafes, pool, gym, health center, casino… so grab a gin and tonic and let yourself be carried by the Mediterranean breeze!

9’ Day - Barcelona - Madrid

We will arrive to Barcelona the next day in the afternoon and you will have a chance to choose whether to stay in the city or to continue with our bus to Madrid.

10’ Day* - Madrid

After a night in the bus we will arrive to Madrid, very early in the morning….and we will sleep tight, dreaming about all amazing places we have visited.

*Those extras marked with (**) in the description need to be selected when you reserve your place for the tour through the reservation form. This is because numbers need to be booked far in advance.

**Those extras marked with(**) in the description are not in the form used to book your place. We will be in touch two weeks before the tour to ask about your interest in these extras and you can pay directly to the tour leader during the trip.

The program could suffer unforseen changes due to weather conditions, traffic… or the ability of the group to respect meeting times.

The cities where we will sleep are subject to availability, depending on the flexibility of the hotels or hostels. The quality of the establishment will not change.